Life-threatening heat dome prompts alerts for 147M Americans in 28 states as record highs challenged

NEW YORK – The first major heat wave of the summer is firing up across the eastern half of the U.S. this week, with major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor like Washington, Philadelphia and New York City flirting with 100 degrees.The expansive heat dome will have more than 190 million Americans in the East experiencing temperatures above 90 degrees, but it won’t just be the high temperatures that will make people feel miserable. Humidity, too, will soar, with dew points rising into the 70s.That will make cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Louisville in Kentucky, Nashville in Tennessee and Raleigh in North Carolina feel well above 100 degrees.The heat has also been record-breaking in the Midwest. Minneapolis, for example, hit 90 degrees on Saturday, and that broke its old record set in 1900.On Sunday, the city hit 96 degrees, breaking its old record set in 1910.Now, tens of millions of people from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast and New England will need to prepare for extreme heat to avoid heat-related illnesses that could arise as temperatures soar.More than 147 million people in more than two dozen states from the Midwest and Southeast into the Northeast are under some sort of heat alert that will be in effect for the next few days, and all major cities along the I-95 corridor have been included.Pittsburgh, as well as portions of West Virginia and New York state from the Hudson Valley to the U.S.-Canada border, are also under Extreme Heat Warnings.Chicago and St.

Louis are also included in the Extreme Heat Warnings.High temperatures in the upper 90s to near 100 degrees are forecast in New York City, Washington, Philadelphia and Hartford, Connecticut, on Tuesday.New York City and Philadelphia have not hit 100 in any month since 2012. In New York City, the temperature had only reached 100 degrees in June three times prior, most recently on June 27, 1966.In Philadelphia, it has occurred 10 times befor...